Coyaco, Council of

Coyaco, Council Of

(Concilium Coyacense), was held in 1050, at Coyaco, or Coyace, in the diocese of Orvietta, Spain, by Ferdinand I of Castile. Nine bishops attended, and thirteen decrees were published, relating partly to the Church and partly to the state.

2. Orders, under anathema, that all abbots and abbesses shall govern their houses according to the rule of St. Isidore or St. Benedict, and shall submit in all things to their bishop.

3. Orders that churches and the clergy shall be under the control of their bishop, and not under that of any lay person; that suitable vessels and ornaments be provided; that no chalice of wood or earthenware shall be allowed; that the altar shall be made entirely of stone, and shall be consecrated by the bishop. .It also directs that in every church the proper priestly vestments shall be provided, viz. the surplice, amice, alb, cinctorium, belt, stole, maniple, and chasuble: also the vestments of the deacon, viz. amice, alb, and stole. Also it orders, that under the chalice shall be placed a paten, and over it a corporal of linen. The host to be made of fine flour, without any admixture; the wine and water to be pure, so that, in the wine and host and water, the sacred Trinity may be signified. That the vestments of priests ministering in the church shall reach to their feet. That they shall have no women in their houses except a mother, or aunt, or sister, or woman of approved character, who shall always be dressed entirely in black; and that they shall teach infants the Creed and Lord's Prayer.

5. Enjoins that archdeacons shall present for ordination only such clerks as shall know the whole psalter, with the hymns and canticles, epistles, gospels, and prayers.

6. Orders all Christian persons to go to church on Saturday evenings, and on Sunday to be present at the matins, mass, and at all the hours; to do no work, nor travel on that day, unless for the purposes of devotion, visiting the sick, burying the dead, executing a secret order of the king, or of defence against the Saracens. Those who break this canon are, according to their rank, either to be deprived of communion for a year, or to receive one hundred lashes.

11. Commands fasting on Friday.

12. Forbids the forcible seizure of those who have taken refuge in a church, or within thirty-one paces of it.

There appears to be some difference in the copies of these canons. See Labbe, Concil. 9:1063. Landon, Man. of Councils, s.v.; Richard et Giraud, Bibliotheque Sacrae, s.v.